STAllJE of' COLOML ■■^■"■'■■"■^'' "^'''" 
THOWIAS KNOWLTON 
CEREMONIES AT THE UNVEILING 



iiSBipliliii 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. '^ 



Chap 
Shelf 






UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



STATUE OF COLONEL 
THOMAS KNOWLTON 
CEREMONIES AT THE UNVEILING 




HARTFORD, CONN. 

PRESS OF THE CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD COMPANY 

1895 



.CsS- 



CONTENTS 



Ceremonies of Unveiling. 

Invocation 

Presentation . 

Acceptance 

Historical Address . 
The Sculptor and His Work 



Rev. Joseph H. Twichell 

Charles Dudley Warner 

Governor O. Vincent Coffin 

P. Henry Woodward 

Charles Xoel Flagg 



Organization of the Knowlton Association 
Genealogical 



Resolved by tWs JlSSembly, That the Commission of Sculp- 
ture be and is hereby authorized to have prepared and 
constructed a suitable memorial consisting of a companion 
piece to the statue of Nathan Hale, or other suitable 
memorial, to be placed in the Capitol or erected upon 
the Capitol grounds, to commemorate the gallant service 
and heroic death, in the war of the Revolution, of Col. 
Thomas Knowlton of Ashford ; provided, that the expense 
therefor shall not exceed seven thousand five hundred 
dollars ; and the sums expended by said Commission under 
this resolution shall be paid by the Comptroller upon the 
presentation of proper vouchers therefor. 

Approved, June 14, 1893. 



CEREMONIES 

THE ceremonies were held in the Hall of the 
House of Representatives in Hartford, Nov. 13, 
1895, the chairman of the Commission of Sculpture* 
in the chair, in the presence of a very large and 
distinguished audience, the Governor and his staff, 
the State officers, the descendants of Colonel 
Knowlton, representatives of the Historical Socie- 
ties of Connecticut and of New Haven, and other 
invited guests. After the invocation of the Divine 
Blessing by the Rev. Joseph H. Twichell of 
Hartford, followed the 

PRESENTATION BY CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Governor Coffin : — 

THE Legislature of 1893 appropriated the sum of 
seven thousand five hundred dollars for the 
erection of a bronze statue of Colonel Thomas Knowl- 
ton. The suggestion of this act of justice to one 
of the heroes of the Revolution of whom the state 
has most reason to be proud came from the descend- 
ants of Colonel Knowlton. The execution of this 
mandate fell to the Commission of Sculpture- under 
the law creating that body. The Commission asked 



*The members are Charles Dudley Warner, chairman; Alfred 
E. Burr, Henry W. Farnam, Francis Goodwin, Kirk H. Leavens, 
and J. Q. A. Stone. 



Mr. E. S. Woods of Hartford to prepare a model for 
the statue, and when this was made to their satisfac- 
tion a contract was given to him for the statue and 
pedestal. The bronze was cast by Mr. ^M. H. 
Mosman of Chicopee, Mass., and the granite pedestal, 
designed by ^Mr. Henry Br}'ant, was made by the 
New England Granite Company. It is a beautiful 
piece of work. 

The statue is eight feet in height, the plinth four 
inches, and the pedestal eight feet, making the mon- 
ument sixteen feet four inches high. Upon the 
pedestal is a bronze tablet, reciting, without eulogy, 
the deeds which justify the erection of the statue by 
the state. The monument has been placed at the 
southeast corner of the Capitol, in a position to show 
it to advantage from most points of view, without 
dwarfing it by contrast with the building. 

The object has been to present within the allow- 
able limits of art an historic figure, representative of 
the time and of the soldier who died in action. The 
only authority for the likeness is in Trumbull's 
portrait of Knowlton in his famous picture of the 
battle of Bunker Hill. In the judgment of the Com- 
mission the statue is worthy of the hero and of the 
conspicuous position it occupies. 

I have said that the tablet records his deeds. 
The character and genius of the man will be un- 
folded in the historical address by :Mr. P. H. Wood- 
ward, who by birth and study is especially fitted for 
the work. Colonel Knowlton was a great man. 
Judged bv what he did and by what his rare talents 



promised, I doubt if the state has produced a greater 
military genius or a more unselfish patriot. The 
official recognition of his services and his great 
qualities comes late, but his fame is permanent and it 
will increase, for it is of the sort of heroism that 
the people take to heart long after the flags are 
folded and the drums are silent. 

I am authorized to extend to the descendants of 
Colonel Knowlton a cordial welcome to these cere- 
monies, and to assure them that in honoring the 
memory of Colonel Knowlton the state is conscious 
that one of the best legacies of an honorable name 
is a worthy and patriotic posterity. 

With the unveiling, the labor of the Commission 
ceases, and they commit the statue of Colonel 
Thomas Knowlton to the keeping of the state, whose 
chief treasure is its great citizens. 

ACCEPTANCE BY GOVERNOR O. VINCENT COFFIN 

Mr. CJiairuian a)id Friends : — 

THE state is under many and great obligations 
to you and the other members of the Commis- 
sion of Sculpture for the faithful and painstaking 
way in which the duties of the commissioners have 
been hitherto discharged. In no one of the many 
instances in which your services have been required 
have you had a more interesting or more important 
work placed under 3'our care than when 3'ou were 
charged with the duty of obtaining the statue we 
unveil to-day. 

It affords me great pleasure to add that in no 



8 

other case have your efforts been more gratifyingly 
successful. Doubtless you may have thought at times 
that there has not been manifested that general and 
responsive interest you desire in the results of your 
attempts to have this splendid capitol and its beauti- 
ful grounds adorned in a manner appropriate to 
their merits and befitting the dignity and history of 
the state. But in these days of the renaissance of 
popular interest in the heroes of our earlier times, 
especially those of the Revolutionary period, you 
are certain to have widely extended and grateful 
appreciation of the excellent judgment and patriotic 
purpose evidenced by the notable and singularly 
timely addition to our art treasures which you now 
tender. 

As the years go on there is to be, I am sure, a 
rapidly increasing interest in our earl}^ history and 
in the men and women whose words and deeds have 
covered its pages w^ith glory. 

We do well, then, to place in conspicuous position 
upon these grounds this statue' of the brave and 
patriotic Knowlton, and I accept it with great pleas- 
ure in behalf of the people of the state. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 
Bv P. Henry Woodward. 

BETWEEN the lives of Col. Thomas Knowlton 
and of his grand-nephew Gen'l Nathaniel Lyon 
may be traced a close parallel. Born of a common 
stock and reared in the same neighborhood, both 
entered the military service in bo\''hood, one as a 
volunteer in the Old French and Indian war, and the 
other as a cadet at West Point ; both were brave and 
skillful soldiers ; both fell in battle early in the 
struggles undertaken respectively to establish and 
to preserve the republic ; and both were borne onward 
to heroic deeds by an ardent belief in the ideas for 
which they died. 

A deep interest in Col. Knowlton, joined to a 
tender regard for his memory, falls as an inheritance 
to the speaker. Among the papers of my father* 



*Dr. Ashbel Woodward, late of Franklin, Conn., from boyhood took 
great delight in genealogical and antiquarian research. Among his 
early comrades were Capt. Miner Knowlton, a graduate of and professor 
at West Point, Danford Knowlton, brother of IMiner, both grand-nephews 
of Col. Thomas Knowlton, and William W. Marcy, who married the only 
daughter of Thomas Knowlton, Jr. They were untiring in efforts to 
collect facts in regard to Col. Knowlton and his associates. Nearly forty 
j-ears ago the papers were all turned over to Doctor Woodward. He 
published a memoir of Col. Knowlton in the New England Historical and 
Genealogical Register for January 1861, and a genealogy of the family 
in the number for the following October. 

This coterie of inquirers felt that scant justice had been done to one 
of the bravest and ablest soldiers of the Revolution, and impressed their 
convictions upon the youth who listened to their talk. In 1893 the 



10 

were statements, taken from the lips of soldiers who 
shared in the fight, of the part performed by Col. 
Knowlton and his command at the battle of Bunker 
Hill. Though too young to grasp the drift of the 
talk I was present at various interviews with survi- 
vors of the Revolution, and listened as if to echoes 
from a remote or unreal world. In these papers, too, 
are outlined marches through frontier solitudes 
where, as hostile forces collide, the stillness of the 
forest is cruelly broken by the shrieks of savages 
and the crash of musketry. 

AXCESTRV. 

John Knowlton, the ancestor of Col. Thomas of 
the sixth generation, is found in Ipswich, Mass., as 
early as 1639. About the middle of the century 
a branch of the family moved to Ashford, Conn., 
from West Boxford, Mass., where Thomas was born 
in November, 1740. William, the emigrant, brought 
with him a large family. He bought a farm not 
far from the village church, the first recorded deed 
bearing date 1748. 

time to ask for recognition seemed to have come. At the January 
session of the Connecticut legislature Hon. Edward S. Cleveland, Senator 
from Hartford, a native of Windham Count3% was chairman of the joint 
select committee on Capitol Furniture and Grounds. His uncle, ex- 
Governor Chauncey F. Cleveland, and others had often expressed in his 
presence an ardent admiration for Col. Knowlton. Hence when the 
matter was brought to his attention the senator, already convinced of 
the justice of the proposal, earnestly approved and advocated the 
resolution providing for a statue. A number of veterans from the 
Connecticut Historical Society appeared before the committee to urge 
the passage of the measure. 



II 

ADVENTURES IN FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 

In the last French and Indian war, at the age 
of sixteen, Thomas enlisted as a private under 
Captain Durkee, serving till the conquest of Canada 
brought peace. In August, 1758, he took part in 
the battle of Wood Creek. Here this lad, not yet 
eighteen, met with a succession of bloody encounters 
and hair-breadth escapes, which, as told around the 
winter firesides of Windham County, often formed 
part of the evening entertainment for children who 
long since grew old and passed away. 

A detachment of five or six hundred men under 
Majors Putnam and Rogers were scouring the 
country east of Lake George. Coming upon a camp 
which bore marks of recent occupancy, and finding 
sundry utensils secreted near by, they held the 
ground to await the expected return of the enemy. 
Some of our people fi.shing in a canoe met two French 
boats, when both parties hurried in opposite directions 
to sound the alarm. Breaking camp the English 
started again through the forest. The position of 
the next encampment was disclosed by the incautious 
conduct of two officers who engaged in target practice. 
Near by was hovering the French partisan jVIolang 
with a force of equal strength and with superior 
knowledge of the ground. The following day, as 
the provincials in single file were picking their way 
through the thick growth of underwood, the whiz 
of bullets and the warwhoop .suddenly betrayed the 
nearness of the enemy. Ever on the alert for such 
emergencies, from the shelter of trees and brush they 



12 



opened fire in return. Soon the lines became en- 
tangled with each other and the fight drifted into a 
succession of duels between persons and squads. 
Early in the contest Knowlton espied an Indian 
creeping stealthily through the brakes. He shot 
the savage, reloaded and started to secure his scalp 
for a trophy. All at once he found himself surround- 
ed. Armed men seemed to spring up out of the 
earth. Perhaps from fear of hitting friends the 
warriors did not fire, but beckoned to him to surren- 
der. Casting a swift glance along the circle, he shot 
one of the group, and plunging into the thicket, 
escaped. 

Later Knowlton met in a small opening a stalwart 
Frenchman. The muskets of both missed. They 
grappled in a trial of personal strength. The youth 
was overpowered and thrown. At this juncture a 
comrade rushed to his support when the Frenchman 
begged for quarter. The old and not always trusty 
flint lock was reprimed, and as they were moving 
away the prisoner made a sudden break for liberty, 
when a shot from Knowlton ended his flight and life 
together. 

AT THE SIEGE OF HAVANA. 

In July, 1759, Knowlton shared in the capture 
of Ticonderoga. In 1762 under Gen'l Lyman he 
joined the expedition for the reduction of Havana. 
August 13th the city surrendered, but tropical diseases 
had so wasted the ranks of the provincials that but 
a sorry fragment of the contingent from Connecti- 
cut was spared to return to their native hills. On 



the homeward voyage an English officer whose 
insolence while in liquor Knowlton had resented, 
invited him to settle the difficulty by duel, but, either 
from consciousness of wrong or from prudence, 
withdrew the challenge with an apology before 
coming to land. Greatly to the disgust of the 
colonies, the next year the crown restored to Spain 
its costly conquests in Cuba. 

In March, 1760, Knowlton was appointed ensign 
of the 3d company, ist regiment, Connecticut forces ; 
in March, '61, ensign of the loth company, Robert 
Durkee, Captain ; and in March, '62, second lieutenant 
of the I oth company, Hugh Ledlie, Captain. 

'MARRIAGE. 

Returning home at the close of summer campaigns, 
the youthful soldiers of the period did not permit 
the alarms of war to exclude love-making and matri- 
mony. April 5, 1759, Knowlton married Anna, 
daughter of Sampson Keyes of Ashford, but did 
not settle into domestic repose till after the siege of 
Havana. He then returned to the plow and the 
spade, drifting tranquilly with the tide till the blood 
of Lexington opened a new era in the progress of 
humanity. 

CHANGE OF FEELING TOWARD ENGLAND. 

During the dozen years of peaceful sowing and 
reaping a great change had been wrought in the 
temper of the colonies toward Great Britain, due, from 
the colonial point of view, in part to odious fiscal 



14 

regulations and in part to the arrogance of English 
officers on duty in America. 

The preliminary duel was fought with Massachu- 
setts. In that colony the tyranny of the Stuarts had 
evoked a chronic habit of non-compliance with the 
wishes of the crown. Her people, called as the elect 
from the morning of time to bear the ark which none 
but Israel might touch, and ever waspish toward 
aggression, presented a sharp, active, and acrid sting 
to the measures proposed for their amendment by 
a succession of royal rulers. The retaliatory acts of 
the ministry led up to the Boston Tea Party and the 
night march to Concord. 

In the light of her history it is hard to see why 
Connecticut adopted so ardently the contention of 
her neighbor. From the outset she had studiously 
avoided controversy with the crown. Valuing things 
above words, she never dropped the substance to 
clutch at the shadow. Eluding observation while 
pursuing with resolute purpose a well-defined policy, 
she pushed ahead vigorously in periods of calm, and 
when kings grew meddlesome waited silently in 
serene patience for a change in the royal temper. By 
the prudence of her leaders she became from the start 
a self-governing republic, as free almost under the 
Georges as she is to-day. Her internal condition was, 
perhaps, more changed by the constitution of 1818 
than by the revolution of 1 776. 

After 1760 a gradual change took place in the 
subjects which engrossed popular attention. Deduc- 
tions respecting the moral government of the uni- 



15 

verse, drawn with merciless logic from premises ac- 
cepted with no apparent hesitation — subtleties on 
which in the absence of science and a varied literature 
the intellect of New England had long been sharp- 
ened, gave way to the study of the British constitu- 
tion and of natural rights. Arguments winged with 
the eloquence of an Otis and a Henry both convinced 
and inflamed a willing people, preparing the way 
for the entry of a new nation so soon as the conflict 
should move onward from the platform to the bat- 
tle-field. 

AT HOME. 

On leaving the arm}^ in 1762, Colonel Knowlton 
lived in Ashford on his farm of four hundred acres, 
where eight children were born to him. At the age 
of thirty-three he was elected selectman, and it was 
deemed a notable occurrence that one so young 
should be honored by his fellow citizens with this 
distinguished mark of confidence. " Old men for 
council," was the maxim of our prudent fathers. He 
is described at this time as about six feet tall, slender 
but sinewy, of dark hair, blue eyes and fair complex- 
ion, erect and handsome, affable and courteous, wnth a 
winsomeness that drew friends and a constancy that 
held them. 

Scrupulous in conduct, he had little sympathy with 
the prevalent intolerance. It is related that, attracted 
on one occasion by the crowd around the village 
whipping post — then an instrument of grace — he 
noticed the omission from the sentence of the usual 
clause requiring the lash to be applied to the bare 



i6 

back, and threw his own overcoat over the shoulders 
of the delinquent to lighten the pain. 

STORM SIGNALS. 

September i, 1774, General Gage seized and re- 
moved a quantity of powder stored by the provincials 
at Cambridge. Amid the excitement and wrath pro- 
voked by the act, a report was started that the British 
had fired upon our people. Flying by word of mouth, 
as rumors do, the story reached General Putnam at 
Pomfret the morning of the 3d. This he first re- 
duced to writing and sent on with his initials 
attached. Through Norwich, New London, New 
Haven, New York, Philadelphia, and the regions be- 
yond, the story sped onward. Within a few hours 
thousands of men in Connecticut alone were ready to 
march under arms to avenge the supposed wrong. 
Everywhere the news called forth similar proofs of 
patriotism. Putnam with four comrades hurried on 
horseback toward Boston and reached Douglass before 
learning that the alarm was false. Galloping home- 
ward and sending out couriers to convey counter 
tidings he thus stopped several detachments already 
well advanced on the road. Whether the story was 
started through mistake, or intentionally to test the 
public temper, the response afforded convincing proof 
that the masses were ready for armed resistance. 

Shortly after on the 9th of September a conven- 
tion of delegates from New London and Windham 
counties met at Norwich. It voted a number of rec- 
ommendations with the view of putting the militia of 



^7 

Eastern Connecticut on an effective war footing. At 
the October session the General Assembly enacted 
that prior to the ensuing May each military company 
in the colony shall be exercised twelve half days in 
the use of arms. The several towns were ordered to 
provide double the quantities of powder, balls, and 
flints before required by law. In the swelling flood 
of enthusiasm resolves of conventions and acts of leg- 
islatures served but to give a more solemn sanction to 
the spontaneous movements of the hour. 

WINDHAM COUNTY IN ARMS. 

On Wednesday, April 19, 1775, occurred the fight 
at Lexington. At ten o'clock a.m. a post was dis- 
patched from Watertown, Mass., to Worcester, to con- 
vey tidings of the expedition and to alarm the people. 
Early the next morning the news crossed the Connec- 
ticut line and before night had spread over Windham 
county. Work was dropped. Friday was given up to 
new but intense activities. Officers rode hither and 
thither to call out their men and make ready for the 
coming march. Wives and daughters ran bullets and 
cooked rations. 

Knowlton hastened to the rendezvous of the Ash- 
ford Company on the eastern border of the town and, 
though long out of service, was chosen by acclamation 
to the vacant* office of captain. The place sought the 

* Lieut. Reuben Marcy, a man of high character and held in high 
esteem for personal virtues, was acting commander before the election of 
Knowlton. His father, Edward ]\Iarcy, had been a lieutenant and later a 
captain in the French and Indian wars, but, the son had seen no service. 
After the return from Cambridge he resigned. The next year he raised 
and commanded the Fourth company of Colonel Chester's regiment, tak- 



i8 

man because in soldierly qualities and gifts of leader- 
ship he stood pre-eminent. His wife, who preferred 
peace with her husband to aught that war could win 
without him, for once found his heart hardened 
against entreaties and tears. 

Without delay the command hurried over the hills 
to Pomfret, where the Fifth Regiment, Jedediah 
Elderkin, Colonel, had been ordered to rendezvous. 
Sunday morning other companies arrived from Mans- 
field, Coventry, and Windham. Early in the after- 
noon the officers held a council. Embarrassed most 
by the size of the sudden outpour, they voted to take 
one-fifth from the ten companies present and to send 
the other four-fifths home to await future orders. For 
special fitness the Ashford Company was selected 
entire and to that extent the draft upon the others 
was reduced. So quickly were arrangements pushed 
that by five o'clock the same afternoon the detach- 
ment under Major Thomas Brown and Captain 
Knowlton set out for Cambridge, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Experience Storrs accompanying them as far as Dud- 
ley. This was the first organized body of troops from 
beyond her borders to join the Massachusetts forces 
around Boston. 

Levies collected at an hour's notice were not pre- 
pared to enter upon a long campaign. Accordingly, 
after a few days the Connecticut troops returned 



ing part in the campaign of 1776 around New York city. It is a curious 
fact that Daniel Knowlton, a brother of Colonel Thomas, and a fearless 
and famous scout, joined the company of Captain Marcy, of which he was 
ensign. In August Daniel was detached with others to make up Knowl- 
ton's Rangers. Captain Marcy died January 14, 1S06. 



19 

home to arrange their affairs for the serious business 
of war. 

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 

By special order of the Governor the General As- 
sembly of Connecticut met April 26th. That body 
voted to organize one-fourth part of the militia of the 
colony into six regiments for its special defense and 
safety. 

As reconstructed the Ashford company, consisting 
of 100* men, recruited in a town of 2,228 white 
inhabitants, formed a part of regiment No. 3, Israel 
Putnam, Colonel. On reaching the field it was sta- 
tioned at Cambridge, near the headquarters of Gen'l 
Ward. 



* Captain, Thomas Knowlton ; Lieutenants, John Keyes, Daniel 
Allen ; Ensign, Squire Hill ; Sergeants, Daniel Eldridge, Obadiah Parry ; 
Timothy Dimmick, Amos Woodward, and Joseph Snow ; Corporals, 
David Allen, Daniel Squire, Christopher Bowen, Jedediah Ammidown ; 
Clerk, Samuel Moseley ; Drummer, Nathaniel Hayward ; Fifer, Ben- 
jamin Russell ; Privates, Philip Abbot, Jonathan Avery, William Allen, 
George Anderson, Stephen Anderson, Thomas Anderson, Isaac Abbe, 
Amos Bugbee, Joseph Barney, Thomas Bragg (Thomas Bragg taken from 
a separate roll), Abiel Bugbee, John Broughton, Asaph Burley, Jacob 
Burley, Thaddeus Brown, Jonathan Badger, Daniel Bosworth, Jonathan 
Bowen, Joseph Bowen, Lemuel Bowles, Jonathan ChaflFee, Jeremiah 
Connel, Jonathan Crane, Christopher Chapman, Thomas Chapman, 
William Curtis, William Cheney, Benjamin Dimmick, Thomas Davidson, 
Asa Davidson, Isaac Dimmick, Amos Dowset, Jonathan Dowset, Timothy 
Eastman, Josiah Eaton, Daniel Fitts, Stephen Foster, James Grant, 
Hamilton Grant, Samuel Hale, Caleb Hendee, Benjamin Henfield, 
Jonathan Holmes, Silas Holt, Josiah Holt, Robert Hale, Charles Kimball, 
Stephen Knowlton, Zachariah Keyes, Edward Keyes, Fred Knowlton, 
Asahel Lyon, Amariah Lyon, Jonathan Laflin, Abraham Laflin, Alexander 
McNall, William Moore, Adin Marcy, Daniel Owen, Jonathan Potter, 
Robert Patterson, Benjamin Pitts, Zera Preston, Benjamin Russ, Reuben 
Simmons, James Shepherd, Daniel Smith, Richard Smith, Stephen 
Scarbrough, Thomas Southworth, Salvanus Snow, Abijah Smith, Josiah 
Smith, Ebenezer Wales, William Waters, William Watkins, Aaron 
Wales, Nathaniel Ward, Nathaniel Watkins, Samuel Walker, Eleazer 
Wales, James Walker, Daniel Ward, Jonathan Woodward, William 
Williams. 



20 

The troops soon wearied of inaction. As weeks 
wore away with no battle, or skirmish, or achieve- 
ment of any kind to break the monotony, our people 
wondered why the gallant generals and colonels, 
whom they had sent to war amid flaming enthusiasm, 
should so delay about driving the redcoats into the 
sea. Though the army was still undisciplined and 
scantily supplied with munitions, something must be 
done to quiet the restlessness in camp and at home. 
Eighty-six years later similar impatience voiced in 
the cry, " On to Richmond," forced Gen'l Scott to 
throw his raw levies against the batteries at Bull 
Run. 

If not the originator, Putnam was a strenuous 
advocate, of the plan of fortifying a position on the 
peninsula of Charlestown. At the private quarters 
of Knowlton he unfolded in detail his reasons for 
the step. But his trusted captain took a different 
view, arguing that under cover of floating batteries 
the enemy could land troops at the neck, thus cutting 
off the garrison from reinforcements and supplies, 
that the approaches and flanks could be enfiladed 
from the shipping, and that if successful in throwing 
up intrenchments the Americans had neither cannon 
nor ammunition for inflicting any serious injury upon 
the British. He further contended that by judicious 
disposal of the land and naval forces at his com- 
mand Gen'l Gage without bloodshed could speedily 
starve the expedition into surrender. The sentinel 
at the door, Edward Keyes, a lad of seventeen, over- 



21 

heard and in after years often repeated the con- 
versation. 

A conviction that active measures alone could 
hush the popular clamor led the Committee of Safety 
to approve the scheme. If the counselors of boldness 
counted upon the rashness of the enemy as a factor 
in the problem, their prescience was justified by 
results. 

PART TAKEN BY THE CONNECTICUT TROOPS. 

Two hundred* Connecticut troops selected from 
six companies and commanded by Knowlton marched 
with Col. Prescott on the night of June i6th over 
Bunker's Hill to Breed's Hill, an elevation nearer to 
the city but not so high. Almost directly east was 
Moulton's Point, the end of the peninsula. On the 
south lay the village of Charlestown, resting on the 
river Charles. On the north at the distance of four 
hundred yards flowed the Mystic. By daybreak a 
redoubt about eight rods square had been partially 

*The detachment was composed of one hundred and twenty men, 
drafted from the first, second, fourth, and fifth companies of Putnam's 
regiment ; two officers and thirty privates from the company of Capt. 
Chester ; and sixteen men from that of Solomon Willes, both of the 
Second or Spencer's regiment. Others went with them as volunteers. 
The number "200" must be treated merely as an estimate. 

The orderly book of Capt. Willes, now in possession of Mr. Charles 
J. Hoadly, under date of June i6th, says : 

'Ordered .... " that 16 men parade at 6 o'clock P. M., so as to 
be ready to march from the parade at half past six where they shall be 
ordered, the men for fatigue to dress as suits their convenience, all others 
for guard to dress clean and neat with breeches, stockings and shoes, 
the men to be very punctual at the time for parading." ' 

The orderly book of Capt. William Coit, published by the Connecti- 
cut Historical Society in 1894 makes it clear that his company did not 
furnish a detail for the night march, as has often been erroneously 
surmised. 




C H AR^^ 



mOULTONS 

POINT 




23 

constructed. Then the men-of-war in the harbor 
and the battery on Copp's Hill opened upon it. Still 
with pick and spade the men toiled on. North of the 
redoubt in face of a heavy fire the line was extended 
about twenty rods toward a slough at the foot of 
the hill. 

In the gray of dawn Putnam galloped into 
Cambridge to urge upon Gen'l Ward the necessity 
of hurrying forward supplies and reinforcements. 
Fearing, however, that his own position was to be 
attacked, the commander-in-chief was too dazed for 
prompt and effective action. 

When in the early afternoon the British began to 
disembark on the southeastern shore of the peninsula, 
Col. Prescott ordered the Connecticut troops in the 
redoubt under Knowlton, supported by two field- 
pieces, to oppose the landing. The cannon were 
nearly useless, as through some blunder the balls 
brought to the field did not fit. Had he obeyed the 
order a handful of infantry would have marched forth 
to sure destruction. At this juncture Knowlton in- 
ferred from the movements of Gen'l Howe that it 
was his purpose, by advancing along the borders of 
the Mystic, to gain the rear of the redoubt and cut 
off* the retreat of the garrison. Seeing intuitively 
the danger and the remedy, he hurried to the critical 
point and brought confusion to the plan. Dropping 
back about 190 yards to the low ground on the left, 
he found a stone fence, surmounted by two rails, 
stretching across the fields toward the river. Paral- 
lel with this a second rail fence was hastily thrown 



24 

up and the interval packed with freshly mown hay. 
Here the detachment was soon joined by a body of 
two hundred fresh troops from New Hampshire. 

About one o'clock two thousand regulars under 
Gen'l Howe landed near Moulton's Point, the eastern 
extremity of the peninsula, where he lost two hours 
of precious time in waiting for reinforcements. At 
this juncture the force in the redoubt by details and 
desertions had been reduced below three hundred. 
On the plain behind the fence were four hundred more. 
It looked as if they had been deliberately abandoned. 
Messenger after messenger sent for food and succor 
had failed to bring relief. Hungry, thirsty, thirty 
hours without sleep, worn by severe toil under a hot 
sun and a still hotter fire of shot and shell, the little 
band saw the preparations of an army outnumbering 
them three to one, splendidly equipped, admirably 
disciplined, hardened by long service and accustomed 
to victory even when matched against veterans. 

During the interval of suspense which followed 
the landing of the British, a part of Col. Reed's 
regiment from New Hampshire marched across the 
neck and took position on the left of Knowlton. 
Shortly before three o'clock Col. Stark reached the 
field, when his command filled the gap on the extreme 
left between Reed and the Mystic. They hastily 
extended and strengthened the breastwork begun by 
Knowlton, and threw up a stone wall across the 
sandy beach from the river bank to the water. Except 
a few unorganized volunteers who had come to the 
front from an impulse of personal enthusiasm, 



25 

these New Hampshire regiments, composed of the 
best raw material but undisciplined and wretchedly 
equipped, were the only fresh troops on the field when 
the action began. The fence line extended about 
nine hundred feet from the northern slope of Breed's 
Hill to the Mystic and was defended by about one 
thousand men. Opposite the north face of the 
redoubt the hill was skirted by a slough which termin- 
ated seventy yards in front of the position held by 
Knowlton. 

While General Pigot with a single column made a 
demonstration against the redoubt General Howe led 
two columns along the beach and across the fields that 
skirted the Mystic with the view of flanking the gar- 
rison and cutting off its retreat. He anticipated little 
resistance from the rustics behind the fence. 

Our troops had no powder to spare. Waiting for 
the approach of the enemy within easy range, and 
taking deliberate aim, they poured a broad stream of 
lead into the advancing column. In a few minutes 
the ground was strewn with the slain, and the broken 
ranks fell back beyond reach of our guns. A second 
time they were brought to the charge and a second 
time were driven back along the whole line from the 
redoubt to the Mystic. Knowlton, while cheering 
his men, repeatedly fired his musket till it was 
knocked into a semicircle by a cannon-ball. He was 
stunned by the blow and reported killed, but quickly 
recovered. For a long time the relic was preserved in 
the family, but like countless other such treasures 
finally disappeared. 



26 

General Clinton, who had thus far watched the en- 
gagement from Copp's Hill, saw that from the few 
ness of its defenders the redoubt, though seemingly 
the strongest, was in reality the most vulnerable part 
of the American lines. Crossing the river he held a 
hurried consultation with General Howe. No record 
has been preserved of what passed between the two 
men at that eventful moment. Yet it needs no super- 
natural gift to divine the essential facts. Around 
them lay the fragments of a shattered and disheart- 
ened army. The day was lost. It might yet be won. 
Clinton pointed out the way. Hope revived, for does 
not the courage of the race, on both sides of the At- 
lantic, rise from direst perils to supremest efforts? 
General Howe now reversed his plan of battle, mak- 
ing a feint toward the fence to detain its defenders, 
while an attack from the remnants of his army was 
concentrated from three sides on the redoubt. One 
hundred and fifty men, according to the estimate of 
Colonel Prescott, with little ammunition and fifty bay- 
onets met the onset with unavailing heroism. For a 
moment before the deadly aim of our marksmen the 
regulars wavered, and then, as the firing died away 
from lack of powder, rushed forward with fixed bayo- 
nets. Prescott ordered a retreat, his men defending 
themselves with stones and clubbed muskets as they 
withdrew. 

The abandonment of the fort at once rendered un- 
tenable the position behind the fence. The gill of 
powder and fifteen bullets doled out to each member 
of Stark's regiment that morning at Medford, were 



2^ 

expended. Few had a single charge left. Knowlton's 
command took to the field forty-eight rounds of am- 
munition, a part of the home outfit, and were still well 
supplied. The Connecticut companies of Captains 
Chester, Coit, and Clark, passing several regiments on 
the road, came upon the field a few minutes before 
the break, and took position behind the fence. 

The retreat was not a rout. The Connecticut 
troops, now increased to four hundred, were well dis- 
ciplined, well drilled, and relatively well equipped. 
As a consequence they could be held in order in the 
presence of disaster. They now formed the rear 
guard of the Americans, and by a renewal of mus- 
ketry firing checked the advance of the enemy. To 
this fact at least a dozen members of the Ashford 
company who were living as late as 1 830, uniformly 
bore witness. From its detail of thirty, William 
Cheney, Asahel Lyon, and Benjamin Russ were 
killed. Another member, Robert Hale, slipping from 
the ranks in the final whirl, discharged with terrible 
effect into the crowd of pursuers a cannon loaded 
with all sorts of missiles, and escaped unharmed. 

The British lost in killed and wounded i ,054 ; the 
Americans 449. With timely reinforcements a rash 
venture might have ended in a signal victory. 

In this incomplete account of the battle we have 
aimed simply to record the deeds of Knowlton and his 
command. They labored on the redoubt till the walls 
were finished. After midday they extemporized the 
breastwork of rails and hay which was extended later 
to the Mystic by the troops from New Hampshire. 



28 

In the plan of General Howe this was the main point 
of attack, and against repeated assaults by the flower 
of the English army, the position was held immov- 
ably till made untenable by the withdrawal of Pres- 
cott. With ammunition still unexpended they cov- 
ered the retreat, suffering at this time the chief cas- 
ualties of the day. 

The battle was remarkable for the utter disregard 
by both sides of plain dictates of prudence, for the 
obstinate valor of the combatants, and for its moral 
effect at home and abroad. Till then, with here and 
there an exception, aggrieved Americans hoped that 
in some way the colonies would so adjust their differ- 
ences with the trown as to remain integral parts of 
the British empire. Independence, before the dream 
of a few, now became the resolve of ever growing 
numbers till proclaimed with practical unanimity in 
the immortal declaration of July 4th, 1776. 

In recognition of his services, an admirer in Bos- 
ton gave Captain Knowlton a gold-laced hat, a gorget,* 
and a sash. 

As the season advanced, Knowlton's company, now 
brought to a high standard of military discipline, 
served by common consent as a sort of body guard to 
Washington, " with whom he was an especial 
favorite." 



* The gorget, handsomely engraved, now belongs to a descendant, 
George T. Chaffee of Rutland, Vt. The sash is still in existence, but has 
passed out of the family. 



29 
NIGHT MARCH TO CHARLESTOWN. 

Early in January a deserter reported that several 
English officers were quartered in Charlestown, in 
houses that had escaped the fire of June 17th. 
Knowlton was ordered to capture them and destroy 
the buildings. Having previously reconnoitered the 
ground, on the evening of January 8th he led two 
hundred men across the old mill dam from the penin- 
sula to the main — the only way of ingress or egress, 
as the neck was strongly garrisoned. Arriving at the 
guardhouse, he struck down the sentinel before he 
could sound an alarm. Its occupants were captured. 
A plan had been arranged to fire the most distant 
buildings first — a plan reversed in execution through 
the excitement of some of the party. As the flames 
shot upward, cannon began to blaze from the British 
fort on Bunker Hill. With five prisoners our column 
retraced its steps across the dam, without injury to a 
man, and without discharging a gun. 

The adventure had a comic side. At the theatre 
in the city a play called the " Blockade of Boston " 
was entertaining a crowded audience. As the charac- 
ter burlesquing Washington strutted across the stage, 
attended by a ragged orderly, a real sergeant inter- 
rupted the fun with the shout, " The Yankees are at- 
tacking Bunker Hill ! " This was thought to be a part 
of the play till General Howe gave the order, " Offi- 
cers, to your alarm posts ! " The show closed abruptly 
in wild confusion. 

Early in 1776 the 20th regiment of the line was 
organized and recruited largely from the old Connecti- 



30 

cut 3d. Benedict Arnold, then absent on the expedi- 
tion against Quebec, was appointed colonel, but never 
served. January i, 1776, John Durkee was appointed 
lieutenant-colonel, and Thomas Knowlton major. An 
order from the commander-in-chief, dated Cambridge, 
February 28, 1776, and directed to James Warren, 
Esq., Paymaster-General of the Army of the United 
Colonies, runs thus : .... " pay Major Thomas 
.Knowlton Five Hundred dollars equal to one hundred 
and fifty pounds lawful money, for the purpose of pur- 
chasing arms for the use of the 20th regiment of foot 
under his command in the service of the United Colo- 
nies and this shall be your sufficient warrant." 
Knowlton was then in actual command of the regi- 
ment. His book of accounts shows that he also acted 
as paymaster. 

CAMPAIGN AROUND NEW YORK. 

Howe evacuated Boston March 17, 1776. Soon 
after the Connecticut troops started for New York. 
On the way Knowlton saw his home, his wife, and 
young children for the last time. 

Washington directed the continental forces to ren- 
dezvous around New York city, rightly surmising that 
this would be the next point of attack. June 25th 
Howe arrived off Sandy Hook. His effective force 
was soon swollen by reinforcements to 24,000 men, 
supported by a powerful fleet. 

In July one Ephraim Anderson obtained the sanc- 
tion of Congress to a scheme of his contrivance for 
the destruction by fire ships of the British fleet 



31 

moored under Staten Island. Simultaneously the 
camp on the island was to be attacked by detachments 
under Mercer and Knowlton. The ideas of Anderson 
did not materialize in season to be tested. However, 
Knowlton, then stationed at Bergen, and Mercer twice 
attempted to surprise the enemy at night. Once they 
were prevented by a storm, and once by lack of boats. 
August 12, 1776, Knowlton was appointed lieuten- 
ant-colonel of the 20th regiment. Just ten days later 
the British landed on Long Island. On the 26th, with 
one hundred picked men from his own regiment, he 
crossed over from Bergen, and was sent forward the 
same night to the outposts at Flatbush. General 
Washington's force in and around the defenses of 
Brooklyn numbered about seven thousand, and General 
Howe's twenty-one thousand. By a circuitous night 
march, strong flanking columns of the enemy, passing 
through the remote and unguarded pass at Jamaica, 
gained on the morning of the 27th the flank and rear 
of our forces stationed at the lower passes. While the 
move was nearing completion our lines were occupied 
by an attack in front, designed to be sufficiently seri- 
ous to prevent retreat. Knowlton was sent to rein- 
force Lord Sterling on the extreme right. Suddenly 
the firing in that direction ceased. Rightly inferring 
that Sterling had surrendered, he at once ordered a 
retreat, and thus saved his command. Our army was 
surprised, beaten, and driven behind the defenses of 
Brooklyn. In killed and wounded the opposing forces 
suffered about equally, but the Americans lost heavily 
in prisoners. 



32 

On the night of the 29th, with masterly prevision 
and skill, Washington withdrew his entire army from 
Long Island. 

knowlton's rangers. 

A few days later was completed the organization 
of a corps known as the Connecticut, or " Knowlton's 
Rangers." It was made up of volunteers from five 
Connecticut, one Rhode Island, and two Massachusetts 
regiments. The scheme probably originated with 
General Washington, as the command took orders 
directly from him, and was closely attached to his per- 
son. It was known in advance that the corps was in- 
tended for both dangerous and delicate work, and 
hence it attracted only resolute and adventurous spir- 
its. Among the captains were Stephen Brown * of 
Woodstock, brave, generous, and loving ; Thomas 
Grosvenor of Pomfret, who fought with Knowlton be- 
hind the rail fence at Bunker Hill ; and Nathan Hale 
of Coventry, whose name, for Americans at least, will 
shine high up and forever on the roll of martyrs. 

NATHAN HALE. 

After the withdrawal from Brooklyn the com- 
mander-in-chief desired information that could be 
gained only within the lines of the enemy. The 
selection of a suitable agent was entrusted to Colonel 
Knowlton. No ordinary soldier would answer. Men of 
culture, on the other hand, recoil from the work of a 
spy. Hence, when Knowlton presented the case to 



* Stephen Brown, born May lo, 1749, son of Stephen Brown, Senior, and 
of Mary (Lyon) Brown of Ashford, was probably the Captain Brown of 
the Rangers. 



33 

the chiefs of his more than Spartan band, it is not 
strange that silence was at first broken only by fresh 
entreaties from his own lips. At length Hale volun- 
teered, reluctantly, sadly, in the spirit of self-abnega- 
tion that now and then through the crust of hard en- 
vironment reveals the divinity in man and exalts him 
to the skies. Through all time our youth will be lifted 
to higher aims by the story of the martyr who, amid 
frowns and jeers, with a rope around his neck, met 
death regretting that he had but one life to give for 
his country. 

BRITISH OCCUPY NEW YORK CITY. 

With overwhelming resources Sir William Howe 
now laid plans with impressive deliberations to throt- 
tle the nascent republic. 

Sunday, September 1 5th, under a heavy cannonade 
from five men-of-war, the enemy landed above New 
York city on East River, near Kip's Bay, our militia 
abandoning their works in a panic. After the ter- 
rible punishment inflicted upon him by our left at. 
Bunker Hill, Howe became notably dilatory in follow- 
ing up success. On more than one occasion the habit 
saved the American cause from disasters which seemed 
inevitable. When he and his officers reached the 
mansion of Robert Murray on the hill which bears the 
family name, Mrs. Murray invited the party to lunch, 
and, while they w^ere merrily feasting. General Putnam, 
with 3,500 men, escaped from the net about to close 
around them, and, hurrying northward along the 
Bloomingdale road, within a mile of the gay company, 
3 



34 

effected a junction with the main body at Harlem 
Heights. 

As darkness closed the operations of the day the 
British lines extended from Horen's Hook, opposite 
Hell Gate, across the peninsula two miles to the North 
River, with both flanks protected by men-of-war. 
Troops had moved over from Long Island in such 
numbers that the encampment covered the space be- 
tween the fourth and eighth mile stones, with the ad- 
vance near McGowan's Pass on the line of 109th 
street. A mile and a half northward, around the 
Point of Rocks at 127th Street, was the advance post 
of the Americans. Between lay Harlem Plains, 
skirted by wooded hills. A cold pelting rain beat 
upon our unsheltered . men, and added physical 
discomfort to mental gloom. 

BATTLE OF HARLEM HEIGHTS — DEATH OF KNOWLTON. 

Before daybreak the next morning, under orders 
from Washington, Knowlton with the Rangers set 
out to learn the position of the British advance. Pro- 
ceeding cautiously through the woods on Blooming- 
dale Heights, he halted near the southern end of the 
ridge and sent forward two men to reconnoiter, with 
explicit instructions to avoid attracting attention. 
The scouts discovered a body of the enemy, also early 
in motion, and, yielding to a mad impulse, discharged 
their muskets and ran back, chased by a large force. 
A hot fight followed, the Rangers retreating in an or- 
derly manner to the protection of our advance posts, 
where a stand was made. While the movement was 



35 

in progress, Adjutant-General Joseph Reed, who had 
been sent by Washington to obtain information, 
joined a party of the Rangers, and, encouraged by 
their gallant behavior under the fire of an enemy out 
numbering them three to one, started for headquarters 
to ask for reinforcements. On the way he met Wash- 
ington riding to the front. Almost at the same mo- 
ment the British light infantry came in sight, and 
sounded their bugles as if to celebrate the close of a 
fox chase. Our officers felt that the insult was too 
deadly to be borne. 

With the view of cutting off the pursuing party 
estimated at three hundred, Washington ordered 
Knowlton and his Rangers, supported by three com- 
panies from Virginia under Major Leitch, to gain their 
rear, while, to hold their attention, a feigned attack 
was made in front. Familiar with the ground, Knowl- 
ton led his force through the woods on the western 
slope of the Bloomingdale Ridge. The Virginians 
took another route under the guidance of General 
Reed. 

At ten o'clock the demonstration in front was made 
with more than the intended vigor. The enemy fell 
back 800 feet, and rallied behind a fence, whence they 
were speedily driven out of the plain up the hillside. 
By the rapidity of the pursuit the plans of the com- 
mander-in-chief were deranged, for the force under 
Knowlton debouched on the flank instead of the rear 
of the British. Our column began the attack with the 
utmost intrepidity. Both sides were reinforced and 
both fought obstinately till the enemy were driven 



36 

back to the vicinity of their own lines. Deeming it 
imprudent to venture further, Washington ordered 
the recall to be sounded, and the men obeyed, though 
reluctantly, for the delight of chasing the redcoats be- 
wildered them by its novelty. 

The American loss was 17 killed and 53 wounded; 
the British 70 killed and 210 wounded. The victory, 
the first to break a series of continuous disasters, and 
the first of the war won in the open field, largely re- 
stored the waning confidence of our troops, but by 
the death of Knowlton robbed the country of one of 
her most promising soldiers. About noon, while lead- 
ing a charge, he was shot through the body. He was 
placed tenderly on the horse of General Reed, and 
borne from the field, but expired in an hour. His son 
Frederick was fighting in the ranks, but reached the 
side of his father in time to receive his parting words. 

In the general orders of September 1 7th Washing- 
ton says : " The gallant and brave Colonel Knowlton, 
who was an honor to any country, having fallen yes- 
terday, while gallantly fighting," etc. In a letter to 
General vSchuyler, dated September 20th, he says of 
the action : " Our loss, except in that of Colonel 
Knowlton, a most valuable and gallant officer, is in- 
considerable." In similar strain he speaks of him in 
his report to the president of Congress. 

Writing to his wife September 17th, General Reed, 
after describing the heroic conduct of the troops and 
the effect of the action in restoring their spirits and 
confidence, adds, but " our greatest loss was a brave 
officer from Connecticut, whose name and spirit ought 



37 

to be immortalized, one Colonel Knowlton. I assisted 
him off, and when gasping in the agonies of death all 
his inquiry was if we had drove the enemy." 

Captain Stephen Brown of the Rangers, next in 
rank to Knowlton, and his immediate successor in 
command, wrote : " My poor colonel, in the second 
attack, was shot just by my side. The ball entered 
the small of his back. I took hold of him, asked him 
if he was badly wounded. He told me he was, but, 
says he, ' I do not value my life if we do but get the 
day.' I then ordered two men to carry him off. He 
desired me by all means to keep up this flank. He 
seemed as unconcerned and calm as though nothing 
had happened to him." "^ 

ESTIMATE OF ASSOCIATES. 

John Trumbull, the historical painter, served as 
aid-de-camp to Washington during the early part of 
the siege of Boston, and later as brigade major at 
Roxbury. After the evacuation he went with the 
army to New York. He showed his estimate of 



* After the death of Knowlton the question of continuing the sepa- 
rate organization of the Rangers was seriously discussed. Colonel Robert 
Magaw of Pennsylvania, then in command at Fort Washington, upon the 
withdrawal of the main army, urged that they be assigned to him, as 
they were his chief dependence for the security of his outposts. At the 
surrender of the fort, November i6, 1776, they were captured with the 
rest of the garrison. Many of these brave men underwent dreadful suf- 
ferings, and several perished in British prison ships. 

Captain Stephen Brown escaped by rejoining his regiment (the 20th 
Continental) a few days after the death of his beloved commander. He 
was killed by a cannon ball in the defense of Fort Mifflin in 1777. Thomas 
Grosvenor served during most of the war, and retired with the rank of 
colonel. He graduated at Yale College in 1765, and studied law. He was 
elected seven times to the lower and nine times to the upper house of the 
General Assembly of Connecticut. He was made chief judge of the 
Windham County Court in 1806. He died in 1825. 



38. 

Knowlton by giving him a central place in his famous 
painting, " The Battle of Bunker Hill," '^ where the 
figures are so grouped as to present portraits of most 
of the prominent actors. 

When the news reached Ashford, the whole town, 
it is said, was in tears, so beloved was this generous 
man, and such lofty hopes had been reared upon his 
genius for arms. 

I have a number of manuscript letters written in 
1 84 1 -2 by Charles Coffin, who, in 1835, issued a 
pamphlet of thirty-six pages on the battle of Breed's 
Hill, and who had diligently sought from survivors 
information regarding its incidents and actors. 
Among the officers quoted respecting the character 
and abilities of Colonel Knowlton are General Henry 
Dearborn, afterwards Secretary of War, Aaron Burr, 
and Captain Trafton, a companion on the night march 
across the dam to Charlestown. These and others 
speak of Knowlton in the highest terms, both as a 
soldier and a man. Several pronounced him the most 
promising officer of his grade in the service. Colonel 
Burr, who was brought into close relations with him 
during the summer of 1776, conceived an ardent 
admiration for his military talents, and toward the 
close of his brilliant but perverse and darkened life 
loved to recur to this intimacy of youth. To him 
Knowlton was a hero capable of forming and execut- 
ing great designs. He said it was impossible to pro- 
mote such a man too rapidly, adding that, "if he had 
had the whole control at the battle of Bunker Hill 
the result would probably have been more fortunate." 



*The painting which furnished the model for Mr. Woods, the sculptor, 
belongs to the Wadsworth Athenetim of Hartford. 



39 

The remark is quoted merely to show the depth of 
impression made by the genius of Knowlton upon a 
keen and critical mind, that based its conclusions not 
on the opinions of others but on personal knowledge 
of the man. 

Colonel Knowlton was buried with military honors 
west of Ninth Avenue, near 143d Street. Over his 
grave throb the pulses of a rich and mighty city, but 
till November, 1893, not even a tablet marked the 
resting place or recalled the services of a hero, who 
answered to the first cry of a country yet unborn, and 
who thenceforth in crises of supreme peril was ever 
found where courage and capacity were most needed. 

Washington, in a companionship of nearly fifteen 
months, had learned to rely with equal confidence 
upon his judgment in council and his valor on the 
battlefield. He now sent home Frederick, the eldest 
son, a boy under sixteen, to care for the widow and 
seven younger children. 

In the cemetery at Warrenville, town of Ashford, 
a rude cenotaph bears these words: " This monument 
is erected in memory of Colonel Thomas Knowlton 
and his wife. That brave colonel, in defense of his 
country, fell in battle September 16, 1776, at Harlem 
Heights, Island of New York, age 36 years. Mrs. 
Anna, the amiable consort of Colonel Knowlton, died 
May 22, 1808, age 64, and is buried beneath this 
monument." 

Four or five miles from this spot, eighty-five years 
after the fall of Knowlton, to a grave bedewed by the 
tears of the nation, were borne to burial under the 



40 

sorrowing eyes of a great multitude gathered from 
near and far, amid the wail of dirges and the roar of 
artillery and the pomp of trailing banners, the re- 
mains of his grand-nephew. General Nathaniel Lyon. 
When the uncle, from whose example the boy drew 
the inspiration of patriotism and the ambition for a 
military career, passed away, amid disaster and gloom, 
his comrades had no time to spare for impressive 
ceremonies. These rites the fourth generation now 
performs. Through this statue the state proclaims 
that the heroism of her sons shall ever be held in 
grateful remembrance ; that in the sweep of time the 
dearest rewards are held for noble deeds. 



THE SCULPTOR AND HIS WORK 

[Charles Noel Flagg in Hartford Courant] 

IT is an exceedingly difficult matter to write a sketch of 
Enoch S. Woods, because he has that natural reticence 
which usually accompanies extreme modesty, and seldom 
speaks of himself. The story of his life is simply that of a 
mechanic's struggle to better his condition by the self- 
development of an inborn artistic genius, and the consequent- 
ly inevitable battles with discouragement and poverty. In 
one of those rare moments when he speaks of himself he says: 
"The changes in my life during the past fifteen years have 
been so great that it seems like a dream. At times the fight 
has been so hard that I admit that I have sat low in discour- 
agement. Again, a strong resolve and belief in myself has 
held me to my task ; but even now I am all uncertain as to 
whether my Hfe has been worth living or not." 

Mr. Woods was born at Lorneville, a small and at that ' 
time newly-settled town on the coast of Nova Scotia. His 
father, an Englishman, and his mother, a Nova Scotian, were 
pioneers in this new country, and having a large family of 
children were obliged to struggle through all the chapters 
of the book of honorable necessity. His mother was a woman 
of deep feeling and impressionable character and his father 
was skillful in mechanical construction, being able to build 
a house or make the family shoes. Thus Mr. Woods inherited 
those wholesome attributes so important to a sculptor, appre- 
ciation of beauty and the mechanical skill necessary to execu- 
tion. From early childhood he was ever making boats and 
mills and little images in clay which he dug from a neighbor- 
ing stream. It is needless to say, perhaps, that these occupa- 
tions were looked upon with disfavor by his father, who, like 
the father of many another artist, considered artistic ambition 
a presage of an inclination toward a mild form of sin. 

In 1868, being then twenty years of age, Mr. Woods came 
to the United States, with no definite idea as to his future, 
except that he must work for a living. He was ambitious, 
but so timidly reserved that he did not dare attempt to 



42 

cope with any difificulties except those to be met in an humble 
occupation. The predominant idea in his mind was work, 
and so long as it was honest he was always ready. It is not 
necessary to say just what he did at first, but a narrow escape 
from accidental death made him change his occupation and 
become a mason. In this trade he soon became so proficient 
that he was given employment in the ornamental parts of 
important buildings. In 1872 he concluded to settle in Hart- 
ford. About this time he excited the admiration of his fellow 
workmen by his ability as an amateur wood-carver. In his 
few leisure moments he worked in a small room which he 
had hired for the purpose, and occasionally sold some original 
designs which he cast in plaster. In 1877 he finally gave up 
the trade of mason and turned his attention to sculpture. His 
equipment was very limited, for he had never had the 
slightest chance to study in any art school or with any 
sculptor. As a workman going to and from his daily labor 
he had often carried one of the various bones of the human 
figure in his pocket, studying it when he had a chance, and in 
this way he acquired that knowledge of anatomy which was 
•to serve him so well in after life. Occasional trips to New 
York and Boston enabled him to see works of art, and looking 
at these from his own standpoint, unprejudiced by the dogmas 
of any school, he was able to pick out, and profit by the 
successes and failures of others. Fond of reading, he helped 
himself greatly by those books which his good taste led him 
to read. Books on art he never read, as he soon found that 
they were of no use except from a literary and historical point 
of view ; but by general and well-chosen reading he improved 
his capability to see. 

To make the statue of Colonel Knowlton was the first 
order of any importance that Mr. Woods ever received. With 
the awful warning presented by several regiments of soldier 
monuments with which the country is encumbered, the 
commission having the matter in charge was somewhat 
reluctant in engaging a sculptor. Mr. Woods submitted 
several studies which did not quite meet with approval, but he 
convinced the members of the commission that he was greatly 
in earnest and also that he had a fund of ability which 
promised success. No statue was ever more conscientiously 
constructed than the Knowlton. After modeling it all in 
clay, which was no light matter, the figure measuring eight 



43 

feet and one inch, he became dissatisfied with his work, 
destroyed it and began anew. The second time he vastly 
improved the movement, and built the figure muscle by 
muscle until it stood the well-drawn, completed statue that it 
is to-day. I am not going to criticise this work or make 
any great claims for it. If any think too highly or too poorly 
of it, time will regulate their opinion, for I am sure that this 
statue will permanently stand in the position which has been 
chosen for it by the commission, because it is worthy of the 
place. How many statues are there in the country of which 
this much can be justly said ? 

A few years ago, when the statue of Israel Putnam, which 
stands in Bushnell Park, was unveiled, a workman, dinner 
pail in hand, stopped and eagerly watched, forgetting his 
work in his anxiety to profit by the lesson which that statue 
might have for him, and as he walked on he dreamed dreams 
of other statues, in the making of which he hoped some day 
to have a hand. This same workman, a little later, was 
employed on the brick work at the southeast corner of the 
State Capitol, and laid the interior angle and halfway across 
over the eastern entrance from the top of the columns to 
the top of the wall. On the 13th of this month the statue 
of Colonel Knowlton will be formally presented to the State 
of Connecticut and will stand within fifty feet of where 
the mason worked at the interior angle. He will be present 
at the unveiling and will probably hear himself called a great 
sculptor and will receive many of the compliments incident 
to such occasions, but I don't think that he will over-estimate 
them. He has built a good, honest statue to a Revolutionary 
hero, and at the same time a statue to his own industry and 
perseverance. That he will in time build greater statues I 
am sure, for the habit of industry is strong in him. I am 
also sure that in years to come the citizens of Connecticut, 
when looking at this statue, will often give with pride the 
story of the workman and his dinner pail in telling that of 
the sculptor, Enoch S. Woods. 

Charles Noel Flagg. 
New York, November 3, 1895. 



MEETING OF THE KNOWLTON FAMILY 

A FTER the ceremonies of unveiling, members of the Knowl- 
■**■ ton family allied by blood or marriage met in the Hall of 
Representatives. Colonel Julius W. Knowlton of Bridgeport 
called the assembly to order. Dr. Thomas Knowlton Marcy 
of Windsor was appointed chairman, and William Herrick 
Griffith of Albany, N. Y., secretary. It was voted to form a 
permanent association, with annual reunions. Descendants 
of the three brothers, John, William, and Thomas, who came 
to America about 1640, are eligible. The following officers 
were elected : Hon. Marcus P. Knowlton of Springfield, Mass., 
President ; Thomas K. Marcy, Vice-President ; and William 
H. Griffith, Secretary and Treasurer. Rev. Charles H. W. 
Stocking, D.D., of East Orange, N. J., who reported that he 
had already collected a large amount of valuable material, 
was appointed genealogist and historian. Membership was 
made conditional upon the payment of a yearly assessment, 
which is to be used for the present in paying expenses in- 
curred in collecting matter for the family history. A vote 
of thanks was passed to P. H. Woodward for his efforts in 
securing the statue and in preparing the history of Colonel 
Thomas Knowlton. June 17, 1896, anniversary of the battle 
of Bunker Hill, was fixed as the date of the first in the series 
of reunions. The selection of a place was left to the executive 
officers. 



PATERNAL LINEAGE OF COL THOMAS 
KNOWLTON. 

The following genealogy of Col. Thomas Knowlton to the seventh 
generation, inclusive, was prepared by Doctor Ashbel Woodward, and 
first published in 1861. A few changes have been made in the order of 
the children of William^ to conform more closely to the order of birth. 

Were you to make inquiries among the people of New England 
generally concerning their ancestry, in nine cases out of ten they 
would tell you that they were descended from one of three brothers 
who came over from Old England about the year 16 — ; and in nine 
cases out of ten they would be wrong. But it so happens in the Knowl- 
ton family that three brothers did actually come to New England and 
settle in Ipswich; John,' William,' and Deacon Thomas' ; for both 
John ' and Thomas ' call William ' their brother ; evidence of the most 
satisfactory character. 

The second brother, William ' Knowlton, was a bricklayer. He 

married Ehzabeth . He died in 1654 or 5. The inventory of 

his estate taken July 17, 1655, was £2,1 2S. \d. His debts were £,i-] 
\\s. id. We have his descendants for several generations, but it is 
not our present purpose to include his branch of the family in this 
brief sketch. 

The third brother. Deacon Thomas ' Knowlton, was born in 1622. 
He married, first, Susanna . His second wife was Mary Kim- 
ball, to whom he was married May 17, 1682. It does not appear that 
he had children. 

On the igth of Nov., 1678, Deacon Thomas thus writes : " I gave 
a coat to brother William , and his two boys I keept to scool from the 
age of 5 to 8 years, and a girl- from the age of one & a half years 
till she was married." He died April 3, 1692, aged 70 years. 

(i) John,' though the last to be noticed, was the eldest of the 
three brothers. He took the freeman's oath in 1641, was in Ipswich 
in 1641, perhaps earlier. He made his will Nov. 29, 1653. He 
married Margery , and had John, Abraham, and Elizabeth. 

(2) John,"'' married Sarah . He took the freeman's oath in 

1680, and died Oct. 8, 1684. His children were — 

(3) I. William,^ b. . Lived in Wenham, and had wife 

Lydia. 
JosErH,=* b. 1651 ; m. Aug. 14, 1677, Mary Wilson. 

Samuel,^ b. ; m. April, 1669, Mary Wilt or Witt. 

Nathaniel,^ Dea., b. June 29, 1658. He m. May 8, 

1682, Deborah Jewett, and d. Sept. 28, 1726; r. Ips- 



(4) 


II. 


(5) 


III. 


(6) 


IV. 



(8) 


II. 


(9) 


III. 


(lO) 


IV. 


(II) 


V. 


(12) 


VI. 


(13) 


VII. 



46 

wich. He was long Town Treasurer, and nine 
times a representative. 

Deacon Nathaniel^ (6) and Deborah had — 
(7) I. Nathaniel,'' b. May 3, 1683; m. Feb., 1702-3, Mary 

Bennett. 

John,-* b. Dec, 1685. 

Joseph,'* b. April, 168-. 

Abraham,* b. Feb. 27, 1688-9. 

Elizabeth,'' b. Sept. 18, 1692. 

Thomas,'* b. Nov. 8, 1702. 

David,'' b. May, 1707 ; m. Feb., 1731-2, Esther Howard. 
David, ^ son of David,* d. Dec. 10, 1732. 

Nathaniel* (7) and Mary had — 

(14) I. Mary,^ b. June 3, 1704. 

(15) II. William, 5 b. Feb. 8, 1705-6 ; m. Martha Finder of 

Boxford, to whom he was published Feb. 13, 1728. 
He removed to Ashford, Conn., about 1748 ; d. Mar. 

13, 1753- 

(16) III. Nathaniel,* b. June 30, 1708. 

(17) IV. Jeremiah," b. July 13, 1712 ; and d. young. 

(18) V. 2D Jeremiah, 5 b. Aug. 2, 1713. 

William^ (15) and Martha had — 

(19) I. Mary,* b. ; m. Ezekiel Tiffany of Ashford, Mar. 

9, 1748-9- 

(20) II. Sarah, '' b. ; m. Joshua Kendall of Ashford. 

(21) III. William,* b. Aug. 9, 1733 ; m. Mehitable Eaton of 

Ashford ; d. Jan. 9, 1784. 

(22) IV. Lucy," b. ; and d. young. 

(23) V. Lucy,* baptized Feb. 20, 1736; m. Abijah Brooks of 

Ashford. 

(24) VI. DANIEL/ baptized Dec. 31, 1738; m. ist, Elizabeth 

Farnham of Ashford, Nov. 3, 1763 ; m. 2d, Rebecca 
Fenton of Willington, April 24, 1788. He served 
through the French war and that of the Revolution. 
During the last he was commissioned as Lieut. 

(25) VII. THOMAS,* baptized Nov. 30, 1740 ; m. Anna Keyes 

of Ashford, April 5, 1759. Col. Thomas Knowlton 
was slain in battle at Harlem Heights, Sept. 16, 
1776. Anna, wife of Col. Knowlton, d. May 22, i8c8., 

(26) VIII. Priscilla,* b. . 

(27) IX. Nathaniel,* baptized Mar. 9, 1745 ; d. July 19, 1749. 



47 

Lieut. Daniel^ (24) and Elizabeth had — 

(28) I. Daniel,' b. Dec. 7, 1765 ; m. Betsey Burchard. Was 

a private from Sept. 8, 17S2, to Sept. 8, 1783. He 
died Feb., 1834 ; he had 7 children, the fourth of 
whom, son Phineas, died a soldier in the army. 

(29) II. Elizabeth,'' b. March 24, 1768 ; m. Frederick Chaffee 

of Ashford. 

(30) III. Nathaniel,' b. Dec. 24, 1770 ; m. Sarah Leach, and 

had children : Farnham, Emily A., Hosea, Myron, 
William, and Nathaniel. 

(31) IV. Manassah,' twin brother of Nathaniel, b. Dec. 24, 

1770 ; m. ist, Lydia Burton, and had children : 
Oren, Ephraim, Isaac, Orendia, Almira, Maria, 
George W., and Parmelia ; m. 2d, Elizabeth Card ; 
m. 3d, Clarissa Cogswell. 

(32) V. Ephraim,' b. Oct. 3, 1773. 

(33) VI. Martha,' b. Feb. 24, 1777 ; m. Charles Brandon of 

Ashford. 

(34) VII. Keziah,' b. Feb. 9, 1781 ; m. Jan. 3, 1805, Amasa 

Lyon, Esq., of Ashford. She had 9 children, of 
whom the seventh was General Nathaniel Lyon, 
born July 14, 1818, and was killed at the battle of 
Wilson's Creek, Aug. 10, 1861. He graduated at 
,West Point in 1841, ranking nth in a class of 52 at 
time of graduation, and of over 100 at the time of 
entry in 1837. Prior to our civil conflict he had 
served with distinction in the Seminole and Mexi- 
can wars. 

(35) VIII. Hannah,' b. April 19, 1738 ; m. Daniel Knowlton, 

Esq., and had sons: Miner, Danford, Edwin, and 
daughters : Amanda, Miriam, and Elvira. Their 
eldest son. Miner, graduated with honor at West 
Point, and subsequently was a professor in that in- 
stitution. Unfortunately he became an invalid in 
middle life, and hence was unable to take part in 
the stirring events that followed. Danford, their 
second son, was for many years a prosperous im- 
porter in New York city. 

By wife Rebecca had — 

(36) IX. Erastus Fenton,' b. Jan. 29, 1790; m. Waite Wind- 

sor of Gloucester, R. I. 

(37) X. Marvin,' b. Sept. 3, 1794; m. Cahsta Leonard, of 

Stafford, Conn. 



48 

Col. Thomas'^ (25) and Anna had — 

(38) I. Frederick,'' b. Dec. 4, 1760; d. Oct. 9, 1841. Was 

in the Ashford Co. from May 6, 1775, to Dec. 10, 
1775. He served in the campaign of 1776, and was 
with his father in the battle at Harlem Heights. 

(39) n. Sally,'' b. Nov. 23, 1763 ; m. Samuel Utley, at Ash- 

ford, Conn., Dec. 6, 1781; rd. in Ashford, Conn., 
Dalton and Chesterfield, Mass.; d. March 6, 1852. 

(40) HI. Thomas,'' b. July 13, 1765 ; was in the army from 

Aug. 9, 1782, to Aug. 9, 1783 ; m. Martha Marcy of 

Willington, Conn., 1807; rd. in Willington ; 

d. May 2, 1858. 

(41) IV. Polly,'' b. Jan. 11, 1767; m. Stephen Fitts of Ashford, 

Conn., Jan. i, 1793; d. Sept. 27, 1845. 

(42) V. Abigail,'' b. June 20, 1768; m. Thomas Chaffee of 

Ashford, Conn., Nov. 21, 1791; rd. in Becket, Mass.; 
d. Sept. 18, 1843. 

(43) VI. Sampson,'' b. Feb. 8, 1770; d. Sept. 10, 1777. 

(44) VII. Anna,'' b. June 8, 1771; d. June 4, 1772. 

(45) VIII. Anna,^ b. Mar. 19, 1773; m. Dr. John Kittredge, Jan. 

I, 1804; d. June 19, 1817; rd. in Ashford. 

(46) IX. Lucinda,'^ b. Nov. 10, 1776; d, Feb. 16, 1805. 

Sally Knowlton' (39) and Samuel Utley had — 

(47) I. Sally, 8 b. July 18, 1782, in Ashford ; d. young. 

(48) II. Polly, ^ b. Feb. 10, 1784, in Ashford; m. Gershom 

House of Chesterfield, 1803 ; d. Sept. 13, 1858. 

(49) III. Frederick, 8 b. in Dalton (?), April 24, 1787 ; m. Cyn- 

thia Ludden, April 25, 1816 ; r. in Chesterfield ; d. 
in Westfield, Mass., April 5, 1S56. 

(50) IV. William,^ b. in Dalton (?) ; r. in Chesterfield ; d. in 

Williamsburg, Mass., Dec. 28, 1871, aged 82 years ; 
unmarried ; was a soldier in the war of 1812. 

(51) V. Sally,* b. in Dalton (?) ; r. in Chesterfield; d. July 

12, 1846, aged 54 years ; unmarried. 

(52) VI. James, ^ b. in Dalton (?) ; r. in Chesterfield ; d. Dec. 4, 

181 7, aged 24 years ; unmarried. 

(53) VII. Ralph, ^ b. in Dalton (?) ; m. Zeruah Baker ; r. in 

Chesterfield and Goshen ; d. Nov. 7, 1862, aged 66 
yrs., 7 mos., without children. 

(54) VIII. Samuel,** b. in Dalton (?), Feb. 19, 1798 ; m. Mary J. 

Eastman, April 14, 1S34 ; d. Aug. 20, 1883 ; clergy- 
man. 

(55) IX. Thomas Knowlton,* b. in Chesterfield, Mar. ,1804; 

m. Theodocia Knox of Blandford, Mass., Jan. 18, 
1834 ; r. in Chesterfield ; d. Nov. 6, 1847. 



49 

Poi.LY Utley^ (48) and Gershom House had (all born in Chester- 
field, Mass.) — 

(56) I. Almira,* b. Feb. 14, 1804; m. Holly Bryant; r. in 

Chesterfield ; d. June 10, 1889. 

(57) n. Julia, ^ b. June 15, 1807; m. George D. Taylor; r. 

Feeding Hills, Mass. ; d. 

(58) HI. Samuel,' b. April 8, 1810 ; m. Clara R. Johnson, June 

20, 1838 ; r. Chesterfield and Haydenville, Mass. 

(59) IV. LuciNDA,' b. Nov. 16, 1812 ; m. Levi Clapp, April 15, 

1835 ; r. Chatham Centre, Ohio. 

(60) V. Benjamin,' b. April 25, 1815 ; m. Frances Warner; r. 

Greenwich, Mass. ; d. 

(61) VI. Anna K.,' b. Aug. 14, 1817; m. Lyman Root; r. 

Westfield, Mass.; d. Nov. 2, 1882. 

(62) VII. James,' b. Jan. 11, 1821 ; m. Harriet Northrop: r. 

Westfield, Mass. 

(63) VIII. Amelia,' b. April 9, 1823 ; m. Chas. Cushing, May — , 

1850 ; r. San Francisco, Cal. 

(64) IX. Maria,' b. June 10, 1S25 ; m. George Cook, Dec. 25, 

1852 ; r. Oberlin, Ohio. 

(65) X. Marietta,' b. Feb. 4, 1828 ; m. Ohver Edwards, Jr.; 

r. in Chesterfield ; d. Aug. 8, 1864. 

Frederick Utley * (49) and Cynthia had (all b. in Chesterfield, 
Mass.) — 

(66) I. Sarah,' b. July 17, 1817 ; m. Enoch A. Root, May 30, 

1839 ; r. in Westfield, Mass.; d. Feb. 3, 1890. 
^67) II. Mary A,' b. Aug. 31, 1819; m. Charles J. Leonard, 
Oct. 26, 1842 ; r. in Springfield, Mass. 

(68) III. Amelia,' b. Dec. 20, 1821 ; m. Francis S. Eggleston, 

May 22, 1845 ; res. in Westfield, Mass.; d. Aug. 15, 
1893. 

(69) IV. James,' b. Jan. 26, 1824; d. Sept. 16, 1825. 

(70) V. Amanda M.,' b. Jan. 13, 1828; m. Stephen B. Cook, 

Nov. 25, 1849 ; r. in Westfield, Mass. 

(71) VI. Zeruah,' b. Sept. 9, 1833 ; m. Charles Deuel, Jan. 17, 

1854; r. in Amherst, Mass. 

Samuel Utley ** (54) and Mary J. had — 

(72) I. Sarah Lee,' b. at Epping, N. H., Dec. 19, 1835; m. 

Aug. 10, 1859, Simeon F. Woodin ; r. in Springfield, 
Mass. 

(73) II. Julia M.,' b. at Chesterfield, Mass., Nov. 27, 1837 ,' 

m. Aug. 10, 1859, William C. Bailey ; d. in Wash- 
ington, D. C, March 21, 1894. 



50 

(74) III- James," b, July 13, 184'), in New Marlborough, Mass.; 

m. Mar. 26, r86r, Martha F. Dunlap ; r in Taunton 
and Newton, Mass.; physician. 

(75) IV. Mary J.,' b. May 27, 1846, in New Marlborough, 

Mass.; m. Oct. 14, 1868, J. Wesley Jones; r. in 
Chatham, N. Y. 

Thomas Knowlton Uiley** (55) and Theodocia had (all born in 

Chesterfield, Mass.) — 
{76) I. Elizabeth,^ b. Mar. 12, 1835 ; m. George Stephenson, 

June 14, 1S53 ; r. in Goshen and Northampton, Mass. 

(77) II. Adelaide,^ b. Jan. 13, 183S ; d. Sept. 6, 1S56. 

(78) III. Mary J.,^ b. Jan. 4, 1841 ; r. in Conway, Mass. 

(79) IV. Samuel,' b. Sept. 29, 1S43 ; m. Julia M. Martin, Dec. 

8, 1875 ; r. in Worcester, Mass.; judge. 

(80) V. Thomas Knowlton,' b. Sept. 20, 1846; m. Octavia 

H. Bates, Jan. i, 1868 ; r. in Chesterfield, Mass. 

Thomas Knowlton' (40) and Martha had — 

(81) I. Martha,* b. Dec. 14, 181 1 ; m. William W. Marcy, 

, 1832; d. Sept. 8, 1S84. 

(82) II. Thomas M.,« b. Sept. 10, 1S08; d. July 5, 1811. 

Martha Knowlton* (81) and William W. Marcy had, born in 
Willington, Conn. — 

(83) I. Hannah,' b. May 3, 1833; m. Darius Starr of Willing- 

ton, May 8, 1858; d. March, 24, 1893. 

(84) II. Thomas Knowlton,' b. Jan. 9, 1835 ; m. ist, Mary G. 

Hathe\vay of Windsor, Conn., May 17, 1865; m. 2d, 
Ellen M. Hatheway, June 11, 18S4. 

(85) III. Martha K. ,' b. June 26, 1841; m. Thomas Chaffee of 

Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 24, 1870. 

(86) IV. Lucy E.,' b. Nov. 29, 1848 ; m. Sidney W. Crofut of 

Brooklyn, N. Y. ,June 9, 1870. 

(87) V. Matthew,' b. April — 1855; d. May 3, 1858. 

Polly Knowlton'' (41) and Stephen Fitts had, born in Ashford — 

(88) I. Christian,* b. Aug. 11, 1794; m. William Loomis. 

Sept. 14, 1817; d. March 13, 1879. 

(89) II. Stei'Hen Jr.,* b. Oct. 29, 1798; m. Waty Moore, Nov. 

24, 1830; d. Oct. 23, 1875. 

(90) III. Maria,* b. July 18, 1802; m. Selden Moseley, Oct. 11, 

1832 ; d. April 29, 1889. 

(91) IV. Thomas Knowlton,* b. July 11, 1807; d. Feb. 7, 1831, 

unmarried. 



51 

Christian Fitts** (88) and William Loomis had, born in Ashford — 

(92) I. Mary Ann,'' b. Jan. 2g, 1820 ; r. in Ashford. 

(93) II. Chester,^ b. Feb. 8, 1822; d. Oct. i, 1874. 

Stephen Fitts, Jr.- (89) and W.vty had, born in Ashford — 

(94) I. Thomas Knowlton,^ b. Oct. 23, 1S31 ; r. in Hartford. 

(95) II. John S.." b. May 12, 1S39; m. ist, Josephine M. Chap- 

man of Ashford, Nov. 25, 1S68; m. 2d, Ellen L. 
James of Tolland, Conn., Oct. 3, 1SS2 ; r. in Ash- 
ford. 

(96) III. George H.,^ b. April lo, 1843. 

(97) IV. Mary C.,« b. Feb. 21, 1845 ; m. Chas. J. Gififord of 

Ashford, Sept. 29, 186S; r. in Willimantic, Conn. 

Maria Fitts* (90) and Selden Mosely had, born in Ashford — 

(98) I. Nathan James, ^ b. Aug. 29, 1833; m. Betsey Ames of 

New London, Conn., Nov. 29, 1858; r. in New Lon- 
don. 

Abigail Knowlton' (42) and Thomas Chaffee had — 

Sampson Knowlton,^ b. Aug. 4, 1792; d. Feb. 19, 1813. 
Frederick,* b. Nov. 25, 1793; d. Feb. 13, 1816. 
Wolcott,* b. May 3, 1795; m. Abigail Kingsley, Apr. 
22, 1818; d. Nov. 25, 1S70. 

102) IV. Newman K.,* b. Dec. 15, 1796 ; m. ist, Elizabeth 

Phelps, March 15, 1820; m. 2d, Olive Abbott, March 
I, 1837; d. in West Becket, Mass., Dec. 15, 1858. 

103) V. Miner,** b. Feb. 6, 1799; m. Lucy Frary, June 9, 1825; 

d. Sept. 29, i88o.' 

104) VI. Alma,* b. Feb. 9, iSoi; m. Wm. P. Hamblin, Nov. 8, 

1830; d. in Lee, Mass., March 6, 183S. 

105) VII. Anna H.,** b. Feb. 4, 1803; m. Justin M. Ames, Jan. 

20, 1824; d. Aug. 17, 1859. 

106) VIII. Thomas S.,* b. March 24, 1805; m. 1st, Betsey Shaw, 

Feb. 4, 1829 ; m. 2d, Lucy Culver, Jan. 3, 1832 ; m. 
• 3d, Catharine L. Blair, Nov. 2, 1843; d. Oct. 7, 1874. 

107) IX. LuciNDA,' b. Jan. 12, 1S07 ; m. Kendall Baird of 

Becket, Mass., Oct. 10, 1827; d. April i, 1863. 

108) X. Prentiss,** b. Jan. i, 1809; m. Betsey Cannon, April 

15, 1S33; d. April 10, 1S92. 

109) XL Abigail H.,* b. April 12, iSii; m. Wm. Clark, Jan. 8, 

1833; d. . 

no) XII. Sampson Knowlton,* b. July 11, 1814 ; m. Amelia 
Shaylor, Jan. 27, 1839; d. Nov. 19, 1891, 



(99) 


I. 


100) 


II. 


101) 


III. 



52 

Newman K. Ciiafkee" (102) and Elizabeth had — 

111) I. EiJENEZER," b. Dec. 12, lS2u. 

112) II. Frederick," b. March 17, 1823 ; m. Charlotte Thrall, 

Oct. 31, 1850; d. April 21, 1891. 

113) III. WoLCOTT,^ b. June 15, 1826; m. Jennette Judd, July 

8, 1849. 

114) IV. Joseph C.^, b. Aug. 19, 1828; m. Caroline L. Phelps, 

Nov. 30, 1S59. 

115) V. Elizabeth Ann,^ b. Oct. 5, 1S31; m. William Alson 

Messenger, Sept. 26, 1852. 
By wife Olive had — 

116) VI. LucRE'riA,^ b. Dec. 12, 1839. 

Miner Chafeee'" (103) and Lucy had — 

117) I. Henry," b. April 9, 1826; m. Charlotte Carter, June 

24, 1870. 

118) II. Sarah,** Feb. 4, 1829 ; m. Jonathan W. Wheeler, Aug. 

15, 1850. 

119) III. Emma,^ b. Feb. 27, 1833 ; d. June 14, 1892. 

120) IV. Thomas," b. Dec. 31, 1S38 ; m. Martha Knowlton 

Marcy, Nov. 24, 1870. 

Alma Chaffee* (104) and William P. Hamulin had — 

121) I. William H.,-'b. Aug. 30, 1831. 

Anna H. Chaffee** (105) and Justin M. Ames had — 

122) I. Samantha M.," b. Dec. 24, 1826 ; m. Joshua Barnard, 

Feb. I, 1847. 

123) II. Zeruah," b. Oct. 6, 1828 ; m. Joseph Osborn, Mar. 4, 

1852. 

124) III. Sampson Chaffee," b. July 28, 1S30; m. Sarah Haw- 

kins, Sept. 12, 1861. 

125) IV. George Luther," b. July 16, 1S32 ; m. Ellen L. 

Tinker, May 16, 1855. 

126) V. Lucy Ann," b. Oct. 6, 1834 ; m. Nelson D. Gibbs, July 

I, 1852. 

127) VI. Lucinda," b. Mar. 6, 1837; m. Jas. P. Meacham.June 

25, 1S62. 

128) VII. Thomas Miner," b. July 20, 1S39 ; m. ist, Emily Rose, 

April 18, 1866; m. 2d, Irene Cowen, Mar. 11, 1884; 
d. Jan. 13, 1893. 

129) VIII. Wilson," b. April 16, 1841 ; m. Abigail R. Wilcox, 

April 28, 1867. 

130) IX. Julia Eliza," b. Mar. 24, 1843. 

131) X, Franklin," b. July 7, 1845 ; m. Emma Cowen, July 

ji, 1876. 



53 

Thomas S. Chaffee** (io6) and Catharink L. had — 

(132) I. vShkkman B.,' b. Sept. 2, 1844; rn- Alice Williams, 

Nov. 20, 1882 ; d. Feb. 29, 1892. 
{133) II. Theodore W.,* b. Jan. 23, 1847 ; m. Harriet P. Stowe. 

Aug. 14, 1873. 

(134) III. Edward C, 9 b. July 21, 1850; d. Sept. 11, 1852. 

(135) IV. Frederick Knowltox,^ b. May 9, 1855. 

LuciNDA Chaffee* (107) and Kendall Baird had — 

(136) I. Abigail E.,« b. , 1828 ; m. H. C. Wilson ; d. , 

1891. 

(137) II. Prentiss C.,' b. , 1831 ; d. , 1890. 

(138) III. ALMAL.,sb. , 1834 ; m. Nathaniel Kellogg, , 

1853. 

(139) IV. Catharine A.,'b. , 1838; m. Lloyd Caul, , 

1867. 

(140) V. Frederick Knowlton,'-* b. , 1842 ; m. ist, Caro- 

line Clark, , 1862 ; m. 2d, Jeanette Clark, . 

1868. 

(141) VI. George K,» b. , 1846; m. F. Isabel Hitchcock, 

, 1869. 

Prentiss Chaffee* (108) and Betsey had — 

(142) I. George L.,''b. Sept. 30, 1S34; m. Constance Hender- 

son, May 16, 1865. 

(143) II. Mary E.,** b. Mar. 16, 1840 ; m. Joseph Warren, Nov. 

29, 1866. 

Sampson Knovvlton Chaffee* (ho) and Amelia had — 

(144) I. Charles S.," b. Dec. 13, 1837 ; m. Martha B. George, 

May, — , 1861 ; d. Jan. 16, 1876. 



